James l



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES L. KEEL, OF TALKING ROOK, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO vROBERT A. RAY, OF SAME PLACE.

HARROW.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 577,431, dated February 23, 1897. Application flied .my 18,1896. serai No. 599,709. (No mas.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES L. KEEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Talking Rock, in the county of Pickens and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in I-Iarrows; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and'use the same.

This invention relates to improvements, as hereinafter set forth, in harrows.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a top plan view; Fig. 2, a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; and Fig 3 a rear elevation, partly broken away, of a harrow constructed according to my invention.

The object of my invention is to produce a combined cultivating and smoothing harrow composed of a main frame supported on a preferably crooked axle, a tooth-carrying frame consisting of a series of connected toothbars suspended from said main or upper frame on a series of links or levers having end bearing, respectively, on said frames, the rear tooth bars extending laterally across the wheel-tracks, and lever mechanism for raising and lowering and longitudinally reci procating the connected tooth-bars.

1 represents the draft, which in the drawings is shown as in the form of a pole or tongue extending rearwardly to the rear of the upper or main frame, though any other form of draft appliance may be employed, as desired.

2 represents the main, upper frame With which the axle and drive-wheels are connected and on which the drivers seat 6 is supported.

3 represents the axle, which it is preferred shall be iiat and of the crooked form to maintain the frame 2 in a sufficiently-raised position to admit of the vertical and rocking movements in adjustment thereunder of the connected tooth-bars or harroW-frame 4.

5 represents the traction-wheels, and 6 the drivers seat.

The main or upper frame 2 is composed of a series of longitudinal bars 7, bolted, as at S, or similarly secured to the iiat axle 3, and front cross-bar 9 and rear crossJoar 9', superposed on and bolted, as at 8', to the longitudinal bars 7 and to the draft-pole or tongue 1.

11 represents a series of bowed struts or braces bolted at their ends to the under faces of the longitudinal bars 7 and at their centers to the under faces of the axle, across which they extend, so as to afford firm support on said axle to said upper or main` frame 2.

13 represents a U -shaped plate bolted at its inner ends to the under face of the axle and at the center of its front portion bolted, as at 12, to the draft-pole and front cross-bar, so as to connect and brace said frame, axle, and draft-pole together.

14 represents a keeper having flanged ends 15, and 16 represents a toothed segment having flanged ends 17 and interposed between said keeper and the adjacent side of the draftpole. 18 represents bolts passed through the iianged ends 15 17, respectively, of said keeper and toothed segment, and also through said.

draft-pole, to removably connect the same, and 19 represents another bolt extending through the center of said keeper, the segment, and the draft-pole, respectively.

2O represents the lever, by means of which the lower barrow-frame is, as will presently appear, raised and lowered according to requirement. This lever has rocking bearing on the center bolt 19 and is provided with a spring dog or pawl 21 to engage the toothed segment and hold the barrow-frame in adj usted position. v

4 represents the barrow-frame proper. This is composed of a series of transverse tooth-bars 23, connected together by end and central rods or bolts 24, passing through said tooth-bars, the ends of said rods or bolts 24 being threaded and clamped in position by nuts 25. 26 represents the barrow-teeth. The tooth-bars rearwardly of the traction-wheels 5 are of greater length than are the remaining tooth-bars, so as to extend laterally thereof across the path of either or both of the drive or traction wheels 5 for the purpose of harrowing the track of the traction-wheels. In the drawings the lateral extension of said rear toothbars is shown, as at 27, as extending across the path of one traction-wheel only, but it is IOO manifest that said bars can be extended so as to cover the path of both of said wheels when desired, and I reserve the right to so extend them.

I will now proceed to describe the means by which the harrow-frame 4 and tooth-bars and the upper frame 2, mounted on the axle, are connected and the harrow or tooth-bar frame is vertically reciprocated to either adjust the same to different degrees of penetration or to raise the same entirely from contact with the ground, as desired.

28 29 represent a pair of straps mounted on and each connected with and extending across a pair of the rear tooth-bars, adjacent to or near their respective ends. From each of these straps extends vertically upward a short standard or ear 30 31, respectively. These standards or ears each have at its upper portion a transverse bore, through which is passed abolt 32 or 33,aifording pivotal bearing to the forked or bifurcated lower ends 34 of a pair of link-levers 35 3G, whose upper ends are similarly forked or bifurcated, as at 37, and have pivotal bearing on bolts 38 39, passed through slotted ears 40 41, depending from a pair of straps 42 42, secured to the under side of the rear cross-bar of the upper frame 2, adjacent to the ends thereof, by U- shaped staples 44, straddling the rear crossbar 9. The front portion of the respective frames are similarly connected by a pair of end lever-links 46 47, having bifurcated upper ends 48 and bifurcated lower ends 49, straddling the upper and the lower ears 50 51, respectively, extending vertically from straps 52 53,connected to and extending transversely across a pair of the forward tooth-bars, and .similar straps 54 55, secured to the under face of the front cross-bar 9, the straps 54 55 being secured in position by U -shaped staples 56 57, straddling said cross-bar 9, bolts 58, passed through said ears 50 5l, serving as pivotal bearin gs for the upper and lower ends, respectively, of the front frame connecting and supporting link-levers 4G 47.

GO represents an angularly-shaped link-lever for connecting the two frames 2 and 4 and supporting the harrow-frame at the center of the front thereof, This link-lever G0 also has bifurcated ends 61 62, its lower end having pivotal bearing in an ear G3, extending vertically upward from a strap 64 on the frame 4, its upper end having bolt connection 65 with an ear G6, depending from a rockshaft 67, having oscillatable end bearing in ears depending from the upper frame 2.

68 represents a link or lever having connection at its front end with the lower end of the harrow-frame-operating lever 2O and at its rear end with an ear depending from the rock-shaft 67, so that as said lever 2O is drawn rearwardly it will, through the medium of the link-lever 68, oscillate the rock-shaft 67, and, turning the ears depending therefrom, raise the upper end of the link-lever, connecting one of said ears and the harrow-frame and force the lower end of said link-lever down, thereby forcing down the harrow-frame to the desired degree, according to the amount of soil penetration desired. As this movement downward of theharrow-frame is effected the lower ends of the respective front and rear link-levers connecting the respective frames and on which the harrow-frame is hung are similarly depressed, as will be readily understood.

When it is desired to raise the harrowframe to either limit, the amount of engagement of the harrow-teeth with the soil, or, as desired, to raise said harrow-frame up adja cent to the upper frame, so as to permit of the machine traveling with the teeth entirely free from contact with the earth,the operative lever 2O is pushed forward, which act rocks the rock-shaft and the ears thereon rearwardly, so as to depress the upper ends of the series of link-levers and raise the lower ends thereof and thus draw up the harrow-frame.

The degree at which the harrow-frame shall be either depressed or raised depends upon the extent to which the operative lever 20 is either pushed forward or drawn rearward, the segment and dog previously described serving to lock said operative lever and the harrow-frame and connections in adjusted position.

By reason of the construction and arrangement of the link-levers shown and described the harrow-frame is securely hung to the main frame, and in connection with the rockshaft and operative lever and their connections a steady and positive reciprocal vertical movement in either direction can be very readily imparted to the harrow-frame with the minimum expenditure of force, a boy who is able to drive being capable of operating my improved harrow. The formation and arrangement of the front and rear link-levers, as shown, moreover, cause the harrow-frame to oscillate slightly forwardly when lowered and to pass in a rearward direction while being raised, so as to bring the front thereof in alinement with the front cross-bar of the main frame.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is A harrow consisting of traction-wheels, an axle having bent ends, a main frame supported on said axle, a draft-pole, an operative lever journaled on said pole and having a spring-pawl, a toothed segment having bearing on said pole, a rock-shaft having bearing on the under portion of said main frame and havin g a downwardly-projecting strap or arm, a lever having end pivotal connection, respectively, with the lower end of the operative lever and with the arm projecting downwardly from said rock-shaft, a harrow-fran1e having rear tooth-bars of greater length than the other toothbars and extending laterally across the path of either or both of said IOO IIO

traction-wheels link-bearings connected, respectively, with the forward and rear portions of the main and harrow frames, a series of link-levers located at the front and rear of and having pivotal end connection, respectively, on said link-bearings on the main and harrow frames, respectively, and a oentral link-lever having end connection, re-y spectively, with the barrow-frame and with a strap depending from the said rock-shaft, 1o substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereoi` I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES L. KEEL.

Witnesses:

R. O. HOPKINS, A. V. JONES. 

